League of Women Voters Called In : Hollywood Panel Changes Vote Procedure

The League of Women Voters has been selected to conduct the next election of the controversial Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area Committee.

The committee is the official citizens advisory group to the Community Redevelopment Agency, which is administering the nearly $1-billion Hollywood redevelopment project. Its 25 members are elected by property owners and residents within the redevelopment area.

The committee decided to put the election, as yet unscheduled, in the hands of a nonpartisan group after criticism arose over the handling of a vote last June.

Critics of the committee have complained that the previous election, conducted by the Community Redevelopment Agency staff, was improperly conducted and ‘loaded” to elect representatives of big business. They pointed out that at least 14 members of the committee are also members of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, a strong supporter of redevelopment.

Norris D. Lineweaver, committee chairman, said he hoped the selection of the League of Women of Voters to conduct the election will avoid repetition of the criticism.

“We have spent so much time arguing about the election and other confrontational matters that we have not had time to advise the Community Redevelopment Agency, our primary function,” Lineweaver said.

“Since I took over as chairman in July, we have managed to complete our agenda only once--and that was in the last meeting on May 18,” he said.

Doreet Rotman, a committee member and a leading critic of the makeup of the committee, said that the next election should not be controversial.

‘Honest Mistakes’

“If there are mistakes made,” she said, “at least they will be honest mistakes. We were not comfortable with the Community Redevelopment Agency staff conducting the election when we were criticizing the agency on the way it is administering redevelopment.”

Rotman said that critics also are pleased that in the next election, candidates for the committee must file financial disclosure statements, under order from the California Fair Political Practices Commission. The action was sought to discourage any conflicts of interest.

“We believe that ruling will lead to a committee that is more representative of the Hollywood community, rather than one dominated by big developers,” said Rotman, who operates a coffee shop on Hollywood Boulevard.

In a related matter, a Social Needs Committee has been formed to advise the Hollywood Project Area Committee on spending about $92 million in redevelopment funds over the project’s 30-year life.

Councilman Michael Woo appointed four members: Theresa McGowan, a social worker; Rabbi Gilbert Kollin of Temple Beth-El; Maxine Johnson, director of Weingart Center, and Koko Babian, a Hollywood businessman.

In the first meeting of the group last week, Woo challenged supporters and critics of redevelopment to “stop the rhetoric and start working together for Hollywood’s future.”

“The redevelopment process has come under fire by those who accuse the city of catering to developers and special interest groups,” he said. “I view redevelopment as a community process.

“Those who serve to disparage the process by not offering any alternatives, who refuse to join in a common effort to create a community consensus, are only hurting our effort to create a better Hollywood.”